Railway tank car



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY March 14, 1967 s. P. HALCOMB ETAL RAILWAY TANKCAR Filed July 26, 1965 I RO N R j T M U P L W E wi NW NM; MA

March 1967 s. P. HALCCMB ETAL. 3,308,769

RAILWAY TANK CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 26, 1965 March 1967 s. P.HALCOMB ETAL 3,308,769

RAILWAY TANK CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 26, 1965 3 U Q z a g Q 7 Em QE k. 8: A 8 N w GE 2 m6 w N 9; 3 ms March 14, 1967 Filed July 26,1965 P. HALCOMB ETAL RAILWAY TANK CAR FIG. 6.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. IO.

United States Fatent @fiiice 3,368,769 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 JerseyFiled July 26, 1965, Ser. No. 474,856 Claims. (Cl. 105-362) Thisinvention relates to railway tank cars and more particularly to arailway tank car having an end stub center sill on each end of the car.

In railway tank cars without a center sill extending the length of thecar, buff and draft forces exerted adjacent the car are normallytransmitted from the couplers and draft gears to the stub sills and thento the tank shell through the bolster structures and saddle plates.Stresses induced by the stub center sills may be relatively high uponthe exertion of relatively large impact forces and it is desirable tohave the saddle plates transmit the stresses to the tank shell alonggenerally the entire length of the saddle plates in a somewhat uniformmanner with a minimum of stress concentrations. The saddle plates arenormally welded to the tank shell and if high stress concentrationsoccur, particularly adjacent the inboard ends of the saddle plates,breaks in the welds may result. Further, particularly if the tank shellis of a relatively small thickness, such as /4 inch, rupture of the tankshell may result from such stress concentrations upon the repeatedexertion of relatively high impact forces.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a railway tankcarhaving end stub center sills in which buff and draft forces from thecoupler structure are easily transmitted to the tank shell anddissipated.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a railway tankcar in which the forces exerted by the end stub center sills and thecenter plates are easily transmitted to the tank shell with a minimum ofstress concentrations.

The present invention comprises a railway tank car having a stub centersill structure adjacent each end and a saddle plate secured to the tankshell extending inwardly from the inboard end of eachcenter sillstructure. The saddle plate has its inner end portion tapered andterminating in a transverse edge extending perpendicularly to thecenterline of the car with a major portion of the length of saidtransverse edge being unsecured to the superjacent tank shell. Thetapered end portion is welded along its side edges to the tank shell andthe stress is dissipated by the tank shell and saddle plate with aminimum of stress concentrations. It has been found that a taper ofcertain dimensions for the saddle plate results in an optimum taper forthe most effective and efiicient dissipation of stresses whileminimizing stress concentrations. The taper which has been found mosteffective has been formed with the side edges of the end portionextending inwardly at an angle of around fifteen degrees with respect tothe longitudinal centerline of the railway car.

The invention accordingly comprises the construction hereinafterdescribed, the scope of the invention being indicated in the followingclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possibleembodiments of the invention is illustrated,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a railway tank car constructed inaccordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the railway tank car shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the railway car shownin FIGURES 1 and 2 taken generally along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along line 4-4 ofFIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally along line 55 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of certain parts removed fromthe railway car, the saddle plate being nlildilcated between the centersill structure and the tank s e 1;

FIGURE 7 is a section taken generally along line 7-7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a section taken generally along line 88 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a section taken generally along line 9-9 of FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged plan of the tapered end portion of the saddleplate.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, Ishow a railway tank car generally designated 10 comprising a generallycylindrical shell 12 supported on trucks 14. Shell 12 has an upper dornestructure 16 for receiving lading, such as liquids and the like, and alower discharge valve structure 18 for discharging the lading.

An end stub center sill structure generally designated 20 is positionedat each end of car 10 and has a draft gear pocket adapted to receive adraft gear and coupler structure generally designated 24. As shown inFIGURE 4, the end portion of stub center sill structure 20 forward ofshell 12 comprises a pair of connected Z-shaped members forming ahat-shaped sill member 26 with lower flanges 27. Draft gear lugs 28 aresecured to the inner surface of sill member 26 to provide stops fordraft gear and coupler structure 24. A slot 30 in sill member 26 isadapted to receive a key for draft gear and coupler structure 24. An endsill 32 extends transversely across the width of car 10 and a stub sidesill 34 extends between end sill 32 and shell 12 on each side of car 10.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 3 and 4, a bolster structure generallydesignated 36 has a lower cover plate 38 and a center plate 40 securedthereto adapted to receive the kingpin of an associated truck 14. Areinforcing plate 42 is positioned over cover plate 38. Extending acrossthe width of car 18 are vertical bolster webs 44 and 46. Reinforcements48 extend between webs 44 and 46 and outwardly from web 44 to adjacentstops 28. A cradle pad or plate 50 is supported on sill member 26 andfollows the outer contour of shell 12 to a position slightly below thehorizontal centerline of shell 12. A side brace plate 52 on each side ofshell 12 is secured along its upper edge to shell 12 and along its loweredge to bolster lower cover plate 38. A bolster end cover plate 54 oneach end of bolster structure 36 is secured to lower cover plate 38along its lower edge and to shell 12 along its upper edge. As shown inFIGURE 3, center sill structure 20 has a bottom cover plate 56 extendingfrom bolster structure 36 to the inboard end of the sill structure 20.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 6-10 and forming this invention, anarcuate saddle plate is generally designated 58 and is secured, such asby welding, along its lower surface to center sill member 26. Saddleplate 58 extends inwardly beyond the inboard end of sill member 26 for aconsiderable distance as shown particularly in FIGURES 3 and 6. In orderto dissipate effectively and efliciently the buff and draft forcestransmitted from draft gear and coupler structure 24 and center sillstructure 20, it is desirable to minimize any stress concentrationsformed between tank shell 12 and saddle plate 58 as shell 12 is normallyof a relatively small thickness, such as inch. A stress concentration ofa sufiicient magnitude along tank shell 12 will tend to produce arupture or a weld break. For this purpose, saddle plate 58 has a taperedend portion 6% forming side edges 62 terminating at a transverse endedge 64 extending transversely of the longitudinal centerline of railwaycar 10. Each side edge 62 preferably tapers inwardly toward thelongitudinal centerline of railway car to at an angle A of aroundfifteen degrees with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the car.Angle A may be between around ten (10) degrees and twenty degrees.

In order to minimize stress concentrations along transverse edge 64, itis necessary that the length of edge 64 be a certain minimum distance.It has been found that a length of at least six inches for edge 64 isdesirable to permit optimum distribution of the stresses along thelength of saddle plate 58. Side edges 62 are welded at 65 along theirentire length to shell 12. Edges 62 terminate in junctures 66 withtransverse edge 64 to form corners thereat. In order to minimize anystress concentrations at junctures 66, edge 64 is welded for arelatively short distance from each juncture 66 as denoted by letter X2in FIGURE 10. The remaining length of edge 64 as denoted by letter X3 isnot secured to tank shell 12 as shown in FIGURE 9.

As a specific example of suitable dimensions for end portion 60 andreferring particularly to FIGURE 10, the length of end portion 6% isindicated by letter Z and may be around four (4) feet. The entire widthof end portion 60 is denoted by letter X and may be three (3) feet. Thewelded length of edge 64 is denoted by letter X2 and may be one inchwith distance X3 being seven (7) inches. Distance X1 may be thirteen andone-half (13 /2) inches to provide a ratio between X1 and Z of aroundfour to one which is a general ratio to be maintained.

Forces are transmitted from the coupler and draft gear structure 24-through stops 28 to center sill member 26. Saddle plate 58 is welded tocenter sill member 26 and the stress is dissipated into tank shell 12along the length of saddle 58 with a minimum of stress concentration.The employment of a saddle plate having a tapered end portion and anunsecured end edge permits a somewhat uniform distribution of stressalong the length of the saddle.

In view of the above, it may be seen that several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

1. A railway tank car comprising a generally cylindric-like body shell,a bolster structure adjacent each end of the body shell having a cradlesecured to the body shell, a stub center sill structure adjacent eachend of the car extending inwardly beyond the bolster structure, acoupler and draft gear structure carried by each center sill structure,a saddle plate secured between each stub center sill structure and thebody shell and extending inwardly beyond thecenter sill structure, saidsaddle plate being generally arcuate and conforming to the outeradjacent surface of the body shell, said saddle plate extending inwardlybeyond the inner end of said adjacent stub center sill structure andhaving an inner end portion of a reduced cross-sectional area, said endportion having opposed side edges converging inwardly of the car in astraight line direction to provide a gradual decrease in width of theend portion, said end portion terminating inwardly of the car in atransverse edge extending transversely of the longitudinal centerline ofsaid car and connecting said side edges, said saddle plate being weldedalong said opposed side edges to said body shell, and a major portion ofthe length of said transverse edge being unsecured to the body shellthereby to minimize stress concentrations along said transverse edge andto permit stress to be dissipated primarily along said welded opposedside edges.

2. A railway tank car as set forth in claim 1 wherein the length of saidtransverse edge is a minimum of around six inches, said transverse edgebeing welded to said body shell immediately adjacent the juncture ofsaid transverse edge with each side edge thereby to aid in dissipatingthe stress at said juncture.

3. A railway tank car as set forth in claim 1 wherein each opposed sideedge of said end portion tapers inwardly toward the longitudinalcenterline of the car at an angle between about 10 and 20 with respectto the longitudinal center-line of the car.

4. A railway tank car comprising a generally cylindrio like body shell,a bolster structure adjacent each end of the body shell having a cradlesecured to the body shell, a stub center sill structure adjacent eachend of the car extending inwardly beyond the bolster structure, acoupler and draft gear structure carried by each center sill structure,a saddle plate secured between each stub center sill structure and theadjacent body shell and extending inwardly beyond the center sillstructure, said saddle plate being generally arcuate and conforming tothe outer adjacent surface of the body shell, said saddle plateextending inwardly beyond the inner end of said adjacent stub centersill structure and having an inner end portion of a reducedcross-sectional area, said end portion having opposed side edgestapering inwardly of the car, said end portion and said opposed edgesterminating inwardly of the car in a transverse edge extendingtransversely of the centerline of said car and connecting said oppositeedges, said saddle plate being welded along the entire length of saidopposed edges to said body shell, a major portion of the length of saidtransverse edge being unsecured to the body shell thereby to minimizestress concentrations at said transverse edge and to permit stress to bedissipated primarily along said welded opposed side edges, saidtransverse edge being welded to said body shell immediately adjacent thejuncture of said transverse edge with each side edge thereby to aid indissipating the stress at said junctures and to minimize stressconcentrations thereat.

S. A railway tank car as set forth in claim 4 wherein the length of saidtransverse edge is a minimum of around six inches, said transverse edgebeing welded to said tank shell from the juncture of each side edge fora distance not substantially exceeding one inch.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,139,841 7/l964Krause -360 3,139,842 7/1964 Moyes et al l05--360 3,252,431 4/1966Phillips l053 60 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Exziminer.

D. E. HOFFMAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A RAILWAY TANK CAR COMPRISING A GENERALLY CYLINDRIC-LIKE BODY SHELL,A BOLSTER STRUCTURE ADJACENT EACH END OF THE BODY SHELL HAVING A CRADLESECURED TO THE BODY SHELL, A STUB CENTER SILL STRUCTURE ADJACENT EACHEND OF THE CAR EXTENDING INWARDLY BEYOND THE BOLSTER STRUCTURE, ACOUPLER AND DRAFT GEAR STRUCTURE CARRIED BY EACH CENTER SILL STRUCTURE,A SADDLE PLATE SECURED BETWEEN EACH STUB CENTER SILL STRUCTURE AND THEBODY SHELL AND EXTENDING INWARDLY BEYOND THE CENTER SILL STRUCTURE, SAIDSADDLE PLATE BEING GENERALLY ARCUATE AND CONFORMING TO THE OUTERADJACENT SURFACE OF THE BODY SHELL, SAID SADDLE PLATE EXTENDING INWARDLYBEYOND THE INNER END OF SAID ADJACENT STUB CENTER SILL STRUCTURE ANDHAVING AN INNER END PORTION OF A REDUCED CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA, SAID ENDPORTION HAVING OPPOSED SIDE EDGES CONVERGING INWARDLY OF THE CAR IN ASTRAIGHT LINE DIRECTION TO PROVIDE A GRADUAL DECREASE IN WIDTH OF THEEND PORTION, SAID END PORTION TERMINATING INWARDLY OF THE CAR IN ATRANSVERSE EDGE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE LONGITUDINAL CENTERLINE OFSAID CAR AND CONNECTING SAID SIDE EDGES, SAID SADDLE PLATE BEING WELDEDALONG SAID OPPOSED SIDE EDGES TO SAID BODY SHELL, AND A MAJOR PORTION OFTHE LENGTH OF SAID TRANSVERSE EDGE BEING UNSECURED TO THE BODY SHELLTHEREBY TO MINIMIZE STRESS CONCENTRATIONS ALONG SAID TRANSVERSE EDGE ANDTO PERMIT STRESS TO BE DISSIPATED PRIMARILY ALONG SAID WELDED OPPOSEDSIDE EDGES.